 On May 25, 2020, George Floyd was killed by a policeman who knelt on his neck for almost 9 minutes, which gave new vigor to the Black Lives Matter movement across the globe, more people than ever now outraged and joining together for change.
This sparked me to do some important reading on this topic. I quickly read Ta-Nehisi Coates' Between The World And Me. It was a quick read and quite eye opening. I've read Coates' work before and have enjoyed his insight and the same goes for this memoir and letter to his son who was 15 at the time he wrote this to him. It's incredible how different my world is from that of Coates and his family, how different my life is because I was born to white middle class parents. It's sometimes embarrassing for me to think how I was born into such privilege, but then I slap myself for being embarrassed because that's me again, being privileged, and this isn't about me and it's not about my own self improvement. It's about listening and understanding those who have been suppressed and discriminated against for so long and speaking out against racism and injustice at the right time and place and in the right way. It's about doing the work and helping make this an everybody issue and not a black issue. I'm glad I read this and I'll read more. Comments are closed.
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